Ending a fortnight-long manhunt for the alleged mastermind of the kidney transplant racket, the Interpol unit of Nepal and the local police today arrested Dr Amit Kumar from a jungle resort in Chitwan, not far from the Indo-Nepal border.

Wanted by police in Haryana and other states, Kumar was nabbed from Hotel Wildlife Camp in Chitwan,160 km from Kathmandu, around 5 pm, hours after he checked in with an associate identified as Manish Singh, said Nepal’s Minister of State for Home Ramkumar Chaudhry.

Kumar, against whom an Interpol Red Corner Notice was issued after the racket came to light on January 24, was being brought to Kathmandu for questioning.

In New Delhi, CBI Director Vijay Shankar said they would approach the Nepalese authorities to hand him over to India.

Kumar was noticed after he cut out a news item about the kidney racket in The Himalayan Times. This aroused the suspicion of the hotel receptionist who alerted the police about his presence. He was later found carrying 145,000 dollars and a draft for 936 Euros.

Nepal media quoted sources as saying that Kumar and his associate Manish Singh checked into Room Number 6 of the Hotel Wildlife Camp around 10 am under Singh’s name.

Soon after checking in, the duo asked for a copy of The Himalayan Times which had front-paged a report on the kidney racket and about the presence of the main accused in Nepal.

The sources said that Kumar cut out the story and returned the newspaper to the reception.

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